Central Illinoisans at the U.S. National Championships
	2 to Represent U.S. at World Championship

Saturday, June 23, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS - The 2007 U.S. National Track & Field Championships saw two Central Illinoisans, Christin Wurth (left) and Jenelle Deatherage, competing in the finals of the Women's 1500m in an effort to make the American team for the World Championships which will be held in Osaka, Japan in late August.

Treniere Clement ran 4:07.04 for the victory in the event. Clement who has competed during the season in varied distance events from the 800 to the 5000m used the training combination of strength developed in the 5k and the speed from the 800 to claim the championship. Her victory came at the expense of Bloomington-Normal's Wurth who finished a very impressive second with an "A Qualifying Time" of 4:07.86. They will be joined by third place finisher Erin Donahue (4:08.22) in the event at the World Championships.

Deatherage finished 8th in the race at 4:12.49, edged by her Reebok teammates Lindsey Gallo (4:11.00) for 6th and Amy Mortimer (4:11.97) for 7th. Following the race Deatherage commented to the Journal Star that "(t)he race obviously wasn't exactly how I wanted it, but it's been a rocky season," said Deatherage, who lives in Minneapolis. "That last lap ... I just couldn't put it together. And sometimes that's the difference between top three and eighth place." She compared the race to the 2004 Olympic trials where the last lap also cost her third place going on to say "(i)t's not like I'm shocked or devastated...I finished strong ... I'm just having a hard time with the last lap."

1500m Finish

Deatherage expects to now compete on the European Circuit in the hope of meeting an Olympic A standard in either or both the 800m and the 1500m. "Then we'll call it a year," she said, adding with a laugh, "Of course, that all could change in 24 hours."

When the pack established itself following the start, Tiffany McWilliams took the lead followed by Wurth, Clement and Donahue with Deatherage remaining in the lead pack. McWilliams maintained the lead through the race with Clement and Wurth trading second and third positions periodically. Shortly after the bell rang to signal the final lap Wurth surged past McWilliams to open a 5 meter lead with 250 meter left. Clement then accelerated in response as did Donahue while McWilliams fell back to fourth. Clement continued to close on Wurth and passed coming off the final curve extending the lead to 3 meters. Wurth responded and maintained her position in second followed by Donahue and McWilliams (4:08.86) to the finish.

Wurth explained her race tactic by saying "I was trying to remain as comfortable as possible. I was trying to relax and go with the leader. With 300 left I wanted to put the hammer down. It happened with 400 to go. I was really nervous going into the prelims. Now it's just relaxed."

In further related news, former Richwoods adversary Brittany Riley (right) from Homewood-Flosmoor High School who now competes for the Salukis of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale won the women's Hammer Throw. Riley's best of 237' 7" was in excess of 14' longer than runner up Kristal Yush (223' 11"). Riley is coached at SIU by former world class thrower Connie Price Smith and her husband John Smith.

Riley's take on the meet was that "I didn't even make finals last year so this feels really good. I just kept working at it. My technique has gotten better. I came here and was really energetic and I had a lot of fun. This is much larger than at NCAA's. There are more people cheering for you."

In the Junior Women's ( born after Jan. 1, 1988 ) 1500m, Bloomington High School senior-to-be Ashley Verplank ran 4:43.63 and finished 11th. High school sophomore Jordan Hasay (Arroyo Grande, Calif.) rewrote the record books, winning in a meet, age and sophomore class record 4 minutes 16.98 seconds. The previous meet record of 4:18.1 was set in 1977 by Lynn Jennings and Suzy Favor-Hamilton's age and sophomore class record of 4:19.46 was set in 1992. Hasay's time is the fastest in 25 years and sits at #4 on the all-time high school list. 2007 NCAA DII West Regional Cross Country champion Jessica Pixler (Sammamish, Wash.) finished strong for second in 4:20.93.

Friday, June 22, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS - In Pole Vault competition at the 2007 U.S. National Track & Field Championships, Farmington High School grad Jake Pauli claimed a trip to the World Championships which will be held in Osaka, Japan from August 25 through September 2. Pauli earned the right to be one of 3 U.S. representatives at World's by finishing third Friday behind winner Brad Walker, who previously won the event in 2005, and 4 time (1998, ’99, ’02, ‘03) outdoor champion Jeff Hartwig.

The top three finishers concluded the competition having cleared an identical height of  18' 8¼". Walker cleared the height without a miss, while Hartwig had missed his initial attempt at 18' 4¼" and Pauli missed his initial attempts at 18' ½", 18' 4¼", and 18' 8¼".

Once the three had each cleared the 18' 8¼" height the tactical battle really began when both Walker and Pauli passed at 18' 10¼" while Hartwig made one unsuccessful attempt at the height before passing. Both Walker and Pauli missed their three attempts at the next height of 19' ¼". Hartwig made one unsuccessful attempt at that height and then passed his final attempt going for the possible win at 19' 2¼" but was unable to clear the bar.

A continual cross wind throughout the competition created very difficult conditions for the event. Following the win, Walker commented that "the winds made it a struggle for sure. It was hard to be consistent today. I'm happy to be going to my second World Championships. I won the silver in Helsinki and I'm going for the gold this time." That was echoed by Hartwig who stated "It was kind of a survival game today. It was frustrating. There needs to be a way to count for the conditions. There were bad conditions all day. It makes it tough. All that really matters is that I finished in the top 3.

Pauli is a former IHSA (competing for Farmington) and NCAA (competing for the University of Northern Iowa) champion in the event.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS - In the women's 1500m preliminary round at the 2007 U.S. National Track & Field Championships, two Peoria area athletes moved into the finals. Bloomington's Christin Wurth finished fourth in her heat but moved on to finals based upon her 4:13.74 time. East Peoria graduate Jenelle Deatherage (left) running in the same heat finished fifth at 4:15.26 to also move into the finals. Their heat was won by Treniere Clement in 4:10.68. The overall top qualifier in the event was Erin Donohue at 4:09.81. Wurth and Deatherage times place them 8th and 9th.

Wurth and Deatherage each earned All-American status collegiately while competing at the Arkansas and Wisconsin.

While in high school, Wurth was a 3 time state champion in the 800m ( '97, '98, and '99). She also finished 3rd and 6th in the 1600m ('97 and '96). In state Cross Country competition she was runner-up twice and third twice. Wurth now lives near her University of Arkansas alma mater.

Deatherage was the IHSA champion in the 1600m in '95 and runner up in '94, and the state Cross Country champion in '93 after a 16th place the preceding season. She is now a physical therapist living in Minneapolis.

Former IVC runner Zach Glavash who now runs at Texas Tech had qualified to compete in the 800m with a time of 1:47.88, but elected to forego the competition.